Fans with blades having opposing concave surfaces

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses fan blading devices, systems and methods for implementations with electronic devices to solve the technical problem of poor performance of a fan. Fans comprise a rotating shaft being able to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise, and a plurality of fan blades provided on the rotating shaft driven by rotation of the rotating shaft. All or less the fan blades have a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, each comprising concave areas.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the fields of temperature and dust control in electronic technology, and in particular to fan systems for electronic devices.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices, such as PCs (Personal Computers), notebook computers, household appliances, etc., typically generate a lot of heat during operation. As heat dissipation component, fans, such as fans for a power supply, fans for a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc., have been widely used in electronic devices. Heat of electronic devices can be effectively dissipated by the wind generated by running fans, so as to ensure normal operation of the electronic devices. In addition, fans also plays a role in removing dust deposited inside electronic devices.

In order to take full advantage of the dust-removing effect of a fan inside an electronic device, reversal dust removing technology, for example, may be adopted; that is, when an electronic device is turned on, or at a specific moment during operation, the fan is controlled to rotate reversely for a certain period of time (such as 20 seconds or 30 seconds), so as to remove the dust deposited on other components the fan itself, and the dust that is unable to be blown off during forward rotation of the fan, thereby achieving a better dust removing effect.

However, when the fan rotate reversely (counterclockwise) for reversal dust removing, the wind force will be reduced significantly as compared with that for clockwise rotation. Since the duration of reversal dust removing is generally short (for example, 20 seconds, as mentioned above) and the time of reverse rotation is generally less, the fan is required to provide a high, or even much higher wind force, in order to achieve a good reversal dust removing effect. Thus, it can be seen that, in prior art, there is a contradiction between a dust removing effect and the design of fan in the period of reversal dust removing, and the reversal dust removing effect as well as the overall performance of the fan are poor.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides for fan blading for use with an electronic device to solve the technical problem of poor performance of a fan.

One aspect of the present invention provides a fan comprising a rotating shaft configured to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise, and a plurality of fan blades each connected at tip ends to the rotating shaft, the fan blades configured thereby to be driven into rotation by the rotating shaft. At least one of the plurality of fan blades comprises a first surface facing windward with respect to rotation of the plurality of fan blades in a first direction as driven by rotation of the rotating shaft, and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface and thereby leeward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction. The first surface comprising a first concave area and the second surface comprising a second concave area.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an electronic device comprising a housing with an upper cover, side walls and a base; an air inlet formed on the housing base; a rotating shaft disposed within the housing and configured to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise; a plurality of fan blades each connected at tip ends to the rotating shaft, the fan blades configured thereby to be driven into rotation by the rotating shaft; at least one of the plurality of fan blades comprising a first surface facing windward with respect to rotation of the plurality of fan blades in a first direction as driven by rotation of the rotating shaft, and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface and thereby leeward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction; the first surface comprising a first concave area; and the second surface comprising a second concave area. Thus, rotation of the plurality of fan blades via the rotating shaft generates wind through a flow channel formed between the fan blades, with the flow channel being a space formed by the upper cover of the housing of the fan, the air inlet on the base, and the side walls of the fan housing.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for providing at least one of dust and temperature control within an electronic device. The method includes rotating clockwise or counterclockwise a shaft that is disposed within a housing having an upper cover, side walls and a base configured, wherein a plurality of fan blades are each connected at tip ends to the rotating shaft and are thereby driven into rotation in a first direction as driven by rotation of the rotating shaft. At least one of the plurality of fan blades comprises a first surface facing windward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface and thereby leeward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction. The first surface comprises a first concave area and the second surface comprises a second concave area. Thus, rotating of the plurality of fan blades via the rotating shaft generates wind through a flow channel formed between the fan blades, with the flow channel being a space formed by the upper cover of the housing of the fan, the air inlet on the base, and the side walls of the fan housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, a brief description of the accompanying drawings which are necessary for illustrating the embodiments or the prior art will be provided below. Apparently, the accompanying drawings described below are merely some embodiments of the present invention, and to a person of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings may also be obtained based on these accompanying drawings without the need of any creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a fan, with the windward side thereof being a concave surface;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a fan according to an embodiment of the present invention, with both the windward sides and the leeward sides thereof being provided with concave areas;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the fan according to the embodiment of the present invention, for use in showing the relative position of the tip end and the tail end of the first fan blades;

FIG. 4A to FIG. 4E are schematic diagrams showing the structures of the grooves with different shapes according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings for the embodiments. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained, without any creative efforts, by one of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments described in the present invention are within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the embodiments and the features of the embodiments in the present invention may be combined freely with each other. Furthermore, although the flow diagram shows a logical order, in some cases, an order that is different from the logical order herein may be followed to perform the steps shown or described.

The term “and/or” used herein is merely a description of the relationship of associated objects, and means that three relationships may be possible, for example, A and/or B may mean: only A, both A and B, or only B. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, the character “/” used herein, generally means the associated objects before and after it has an “or” relationship.

Since a fan rotates forward most of the time, in order to achieve a better heat dissipation effect, in aspects of the present invention the windward side of the fan blade is designed as having a concave surface, see FIG. 1, for example. When the fan rotates clockwise (forward), the concave surface can accommodate more air flow to achieve a better heat dissipation effect.

In aspects of the present invention, concave areas are provided in both the first surface and the second surface of all or part of the fan blades of a fan. When the fan rotates forward (for example, clockwise), the cavity space between two adjacent fan blades is larger because concave areas are provided in both the windward side (the first surface) and the leeward side (the second surface) of two adjacent fan blades. Since a larger cavity can accommodate more air flow, the wind force thus generated will certainly be greater. Because the forward rotation of the fan is generally used for heat dissipation, therefore, this design can improve the heat dissipation effect of the fan when the fan rotates in the forward direction.

Additionally, when the fan rotates in the reverse direction (for example, counterclockwise), the second surface is the windward side, and the first surface is the leeward side. Since the second surface is also provided with a concave area, based on the same principle as that with the fan rotating in the forward direction, a greater wind force can also be obtained when the fan rotates in the reverse direction. Because the reverse rotation of the fan is generally used for a short period of reverse dust removing, therefore, the design can significantly improve the reversal dust removing effect and the performance of the fan.

To better understand the technical solutions according to the present invention, it will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and the particular embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 2, the embodiment of the present invention provides a fan; the fan may be used in electronic devices such as laptops, PCs and so forth. The air flow generated by rotation of the fan can dissipate heat from internal components of an electronic device, and remove the dust deposited in the electronic device. The fan in this embodiment of the present invention comprises:

-   -   a rotating shaft being able to rotate clockwise or         counterclockwise;     -   M fan blades provided on the rotating shaft, the M fan blades         being driven by rotation of the rotating shaft. When the         rotating shaft rotates clockwise, the M fan blades all rotate         clockwise; when the rotating shaft rotates counterclockwise, the         M fan blades all rotate counterclockwise; that is, the direction         of rotation of the M fan blades is the same as the direction of         rotation of the rotating shaft.

Herein, M is a positive integer, for example, 1, 9, 25, 30, 37, and so on. A particular value of M is used to indicate the number of fan blades on the fan. In one illustrative but not limiting or exhaustive example, for the device shown in FIG. 2 the M value is 31. In a particular implementation, considering the application of the fan, and in order to make the fan achieve better heat dissipation and dust removing effect, the value of M cannot be set too small or too large, for example, the value of M is 31, and a fan including 31 fan blades can generally be used, for example, in notebook computers.

Furthermore, the fan blades may be made of a plastic or an ester material, for example, PBT (poly-butylene terephthalate) or an ABS plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene plastic), or a light metal such as an aluminum sheet, and the like. The present invention does not impose any particular limitation to the material of the M fan blades.

In the embodiment of the present invention, where all or a part of the M fan blades are defined as first fan blades, a concave area is provided in a first area of a first surface of each first fan blade, and a concave area is also provided in a second area of a second surface of the first fan blade, wherein the second surface is opposite to the first surface that is, concave areas may be provided in the first surfaces and the second surfaces of part of the fan blades. For example, concave areas are provided in both the first surfaces and the second surfaces of every other fan blade, or concave areas are provided in both the first surfaces and the second surfaces of all fan blades, such that the parameters, for example, the shape and mass of each fan blade are the same, thus the fan can operate as balanced as possible to increase the rotation speed.

For ease of description, a first fan blade is illustrated; that is, it is illustrated so that a concave area is provided in a first area of a first surface of the first fan blade, and a concave area is also provided in a second area of a second surface of the first fan blade. Accordingly, the first fan blade can be regarded as any one of a plurality of fan blades on which concave areas are provided in both the first surface and the second surface. For example, the concave area provided in the first surface of the first fan blade is called a first concave area, and the concave area provided in the second surface of the first fan blade is called a second concave area, and in a particular implementation, the shape and/or the size of the first concave area and the second concave area may be the same, or different.

In addition, taking the fan shown in FIG. 2 as an example, when the fan rotates clockwise, the windward side of the first fan blade can be called the first surface of the fan blade, the leeward side of the first fan blade can be called the second surface of the fan blade. Of course, the windward side and the leeward side will change when the fan rotates reversely (counterclockwise).

By providing concave areas in both the first surface and the second surface, when the fan rotates in the forward direction (for example, clockwise), the cavity space between two adjacent fan blades is larger because concave areas are provided in both the windward side (the first surface) and the leeward side (the second surface) of two adjacent fan blades. Since a larger cavity space can accommodate more air flow, the wind force thus generated will certainly be greater. Because the forward rotation of the fan is generally used for heat dissipation, therefore, this design can improve the heat dissipation effect of the fan when the fan rotates in the forward direction.

Additionally, when the fan rotates in the reverse direction (for example, counterclockwise), the second surface is the windward side, and the first surface is the leeward side. Since the second surface is also provided with a concave area, based on the same principle as that with the fan rotating in the forward direction, a greater wind force can also be obtained when the fan rotates in the reverse direction. Because the reverse rotation of the fan is generally used for a short period of reversal dust removing, therefore, the design can improve the reversal dust removing effect of the fan.

Optionally, the fan may further comprise a motor connected to the rotating shaft. For example, the motor is provided inside the rotating shaft. The clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the rotating shaft can be controlled by the power provided by the motor.

Optionally, the concave area in the first area of the first surface and the concave area in the second area of the second surface are both concave cambered surfaces. For example, the concave cambered surface in the first area is called the first concave cambered surface, and the concave cambered surface in the second area is called the second concave cambered surface, see FIG. 3, for example. By forming the concave areas as concave cambered surfaces, the concave areas on each fan blade can be as large as possible, and the cavity space between adjacent blades can be as large as possible such that the wind force can be further increased during rotation of the fan, thereby improving the heat dissipation and dust removing effect.

Optionally, the location of the first area in the first surface is symmetric with the location of the second area in the second surface; that is, the location of the concave area provided in the first surface and the location of the concave area provided in the second surface are symmetric with respect to the fan blade itself, for example, see FIG. 3, which shows that the first concave cambered surface and the second concave cambered surface are arranged symmetrically with respect to the first fan blade. With the symmetrical arrangement, the overall shape of the first fan blade will maintain symmetry, so as to keep the best balance of the first fan blade during rotation, and make the appearance more aesthetic.

Optionally, the first area comprises P sub-concave cambered surfaces, and the second area comprises K sub-concave cambered surfaces, wherein both P and K are integers greater than or equal to 2. In other words, the first concave cambered surface consists of a plurality of sub-concave cambered surfaces, and correspondingly, the second concave cambered surface consists of a plurality of sub-concave cambered surfaces. Additionally, the value of P and the value of K may be the same or different; that is, the number of sub-concave cambered surfaces in the first concave cambered surface and the number of sub-concave cambered surfaces in the second concave cambered surface may be the same or different, and the present invention does not impose any particular limitation to this. Preferably, in order to ensure the best balance between the first surface and the second surface of the first blade, the total concave cambered surface area of the first concave cambered surface may be equal to the total concave cambered surface area of the second concave cambered surface; that is, the total cut-away volume in the first surface is equal to total cut-away volume in the second surface, so as to keep the best balance between the first surface and the second surface, thereby ensuring the speed of rotation.

Optionally, with continued reference to FIG. 3, the first fan blade has a tip end and a tail end, wherein the tip end is an end close to the rotating shaft, and the tail end is an end away from the rotating shaft. Both the first area and the second area are located close to the tail end, i.e., both the location of the first concave cambered surface and the location of the second concave cambered surface are close to the tail end of the first fan blade. Optionally, both the location of the first concave cambered surface provided on the first surface and the location of the second concave cambered surface provided on the second surface are greater than 60% or 70% of the total length of the first fan blade, wherein the total length of the first fan blade is the blade length from the tip end to the tail end of the first fan blade.

During operation of the fan, since the wind generated by the fan flows through a flow channel formed between the fan blades, with the flow channel being the space formed by the upper cover of the housing of the fan, air inlet on the base, and the side wall of the fan; therefore, the area of the flow channel becomes larger at the places closer to the tail end, and accordingly, the volume of the discharged air is also higher. Therefore, the volume of air discharged by the fan will be increased by arranging both the first area and the second area at the locations close to the tail end of the first fan blade, thereby improving the performance of the fan.

Optionally, the first fan blade further comprises a third surface for use in connecting the first surface and the second surface. Referring again to FIG. 3, for example, the third surface can be regarded as the cross-section in the tail end, which is away from the rotating shaft, and the third surface is indicated as a dotted line since it is not shown directly in FIG. 3.

Optionally, a groove is provided in the third surface; that is, the third surface can be used as a cut-in surface between the first surface and the second surface from which the groove is formed. The particular depth of the groove may be, for example, 2 cm or 3 cm, etc. The depth of the groove can be determined according to various factors, such as the material of the first fan blade, the length of the first fan blade and the thickness of the tail end of the first fan blade (i.e., the distance between the first surface and the second surface). The present invention does not impose any particular limitation to this.

Optionally, the groove may be, in particular, V-shaped, or known as swallowtail butterfly-shaped, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A.

Or optionally, the groove may also be step-shaped, such as the trapezoidal groove as shown in FIG. 4B, or the staggered step-shaped groove as shown in FIG. 4C.

Or optionally, the groove may also be arc-shaped, for example, the circular arc shape as shown in FIG. 4D, or the involute arc shape as shown in FIG. 4E.

FIGS. 4A to 4E are only examples for illustrating the shape of the groove, and in particular implementations, the groove may be in other shapes, which will not be illustrated individually herein.

By providing a groove on the tail end of the fan blade, certain inherent frequencies in the flow field formed by air flow during operation of the fan can be reduced, thereby reducing the noise caused by over-concentrated energy of a common frequency; that is, certain inherent frequencies of sound could be decentralized through a groove design to reduce the noise generated during operation of the fan.

Optionally, the groove is provided symmetrically with respect to a central longitudinal section between the first surface and the second surface, and the central longitudinal section is the longitudinal section passing through the center of the third surface. For example, in FIG. 4A, the V-shaped groove is provided symmetrically with respect to the first surface and the second surface to keep the best balance of the tail end of the fan blade.

Optionally, the groove may comprise Q sub-grooves; that is, the groove consists of a plurality of sub-grooves. The air flow can be improved through the design of a plurality of sub-grooves, thereby further reducing the inherent frequencies in the flow channel and the noise.

In the present invention, concave areas are provided in both the first surface and the second surface of all or a part of the fan blades of a fan. When the fan rotates forward (for example, clockwise), the cavity space between two adjacent fan blades is larger because concave areas are provided in both the windward side (the first surface) and the leeward side (the second surface) of two adjacent fan blades. Since a larger cavity can accommodate more air flow, the wind force thus generated will certainly be greater. Because the forward rotation of the fan is generally used for heat dissipation, therefore, this design can improve the heat dissipation effect of the fan when the fan rotates in the forward direction.

Additionally, when the fan rotates in the reverse direction (for example, counterclockwise), the second surface is the windward side, and the first surface is the leeward side. Since the second surface is also provided with a concave area, based on the same principle as that with the fan rotating in the forward direction, a greater wind force can also be obtained when the fan rotates in the reverse direction. Because the reverse rotation of the fan is generally used for a short period of reverse dust removing, therefore, the design can significantly improve the reversal dust removing effect and thus improve the performance of the fan.

With reference to FIG. 5, based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device comprising: a housing 501; and a fan 502 as illustrated in any of FIGS. 2 to 4E, the fan 502 being provided inside the housing 501.

The electronic devices further comprises a motor connected to the rotating shaft of the fan 502, and the motor is used to control clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the rotating shaft, thereby driving M fan blades of the fan 502 to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise.

Furthermore, the electronic device may comprise a processor for controlling the operation of the fan 502. In particular, the processor may be a universal CPU (Central Processing Unit), or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit,), or one or more integrated circuits for use in controlling execution of programs, etc.

Furthermore, the electronic device may also comprise a storage device, and one or more storage devices may be present. The storage device may comprise a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or a magnetic disk storage, etc.

In summary, the above embodiments are only used to describe, in detail, the technical solutions of the present invention; however, the description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the methods and core ideas of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any changes or replacements that can be readily obtained by one skilled in the art fall within the scope of the present invention. 

1. A fan comprising: a rotating shaft configured to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise; a plurality of fan blades each connected at tip ends to the rotating shaft, the fan blades configured thereby to be driven into rotation by the rotating shaft; at least one of the plurality of fan blades comprising a first surface facing windward with respect to rotation of the plurality of fan blades in a first direction as driven by rotation of the rotating shaft, and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface and thereby leeward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction; the first surface comprising a first concave area; and the second surface comprising a second concave area.
 2. The fan of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and the second concave area is a concave cambered surface.
 3. The fan of claim 1, wherein a location of the first concave area on the first surface is symmetric with a location of the second concave area in the second surface relative to balance of the at least one fan blade during the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction.
 4. The fan of claim 2, wherein the first concave area comprises a plurality of sub-concave cambered surfaces, and the second concave area comprises a plurality of sub-concave cambered surfaces.
 5. The fan of claim 2, wherein a total concave cambered surface area of the first concave cambered surface is equal to a total concave cambered surface area of the second concave cambered surface; wherein a total cut-away volume in the first surface is equal to total cut-away volume in the second surface.
 6. The fan of claim 2, wherein the at least one fan blade has a tail end located an end away from the rotating shaft, and wherein the first concave area and the second concave area are located respectively at positions closer to the tail end relative to the tip end of the at least one fan blade.
 7. The fan of claim 6, wherein lengths of each of the first concave cambered surface on the first surface and the second concave cambered surface on the second surface are greater than 60% of a total length of the at least one fan blade from the tip end to the tail end.
 8. The fan of claim 6, wherein the at least one fan blade tail end comprises a third surface connecting the first surface and the second surface and defining a groove facing away from the rotating shaft
 9. The fan of claim 8, wherein the groove is one of a V-shape, a stepped shape, and an arc shape.
 10. The fan of claim 8, wherein the groove is located symmetrically with respect to a central longitudinal section between the first surface and the second surface, with the central longitudinal section being a longitudinal section passing through a center of the third surface.
 11. The fan of claim 8, wherein the groove comprises a plurality of sub-grooves.
 12. The fan of claim 8, wherein the at least one fan blade is a subset every-other plurality of the plurality of fan blades.
 13. The fan of claim 8, wherein the at least one fan blade is a totality of the plurality of fan blades.
 14. An electronic device comprising: a housing comprising an upper cover, side walls and a base; an air inlet formed on the housing base; a rotating shaft disposed within the housing and configured to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise; a plurality of fan blades each connected at tip ends to the rotating shaft, the fan blades configured thereby to be driven into rotation by the rotating shaft; at least one of the plurality of fan blades comprising a first surface facing windward with respect to rotation of the plurality of fan blades in a first direction as driven by rotation of the rotating shaft, and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface and thereby leeward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction; the first surface comprising a first concave area; and the second surface comprising a second concave area; and wherein rotation of the plurality of fan blades via the rotating shaft generates wind through a flow channel formed between the fan blades, with the flow channel being a space formed by the upper cover of the housing of the fan, the air inlet on the base, and the side walls of the fan housing.
 15. A method for providing at least one of dust and temperature control within an electronic device, the method comprising: rotating a shaft that is disposed within a housing comprising an upper cover, side walls and a base configured clockwise or counterclockwise, wherein a plurality of fan blades are each connected at tip ends to the rotating shaft and are thereby driven into rotation in a first direction as driven by rotation of the rotating shaft, wherein at least one of the plurality of fan blades comprises a first surface facing windward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface and thereby leeward with respect to the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction, and wherein the first surface comprises a first concave area and the second surface comprises a second concave area; the rotating of the plurality of fan blades via the rotating shaft generating wind through a flow channel formed between the fan blades, with the flow channel being a space formed by the upper cover of the housing of the fan, the air inlet on the base, and the side walls of the fan housing.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the first and the second concave area is a concave cambered surface.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein a location of the first concave area on the first surface is symmetric with a location of the second concave area in the second surface relative to balance of the at least one fan blade during the rotation of the plurality of fan blades in the first direction.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the first concave area comprises a plurality of sub-concave cambered surfaces, and the second concave area comprises a plurality of sub-concave cambered surfaces.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one fan blade comprise a tail end third surface connecting the first surface and the second surface and defining a groove facing away from the rotating shaft.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one fan blade is a subset every-other plurality of the plurality of fan blades. 